Implementing and evaluating empirically based family and school programmes for children with conduct problems in Norway

This paper discusses the implementation and evaluation of two family and community based intervention programmes for children and young people implemented in Norway, namely Parent Management Training (PMTO) (Ogden and Amlund Hagen in press) and Multisystemic Therapy (Ogden and Halliday-Boykins 2004; Ogden and Amlund-Hagen 2006), and a school-wide intervention programme, PALS (Sørlie and Ogden 2007). In PALS universal interventions are combined with treatment by offering PMTO to the parents of the high risk children. The Norwegian experiences and results also illustrate how evidence-based programs developed in the US have been transported across geographical and language borders, implemented nationwide, evaluated for their effectiveness in regular practice and examined for sustainability. This paper describes this national strategy, and the main components and immediate outcomes of the PMTO- and PALS-programmes in Norway.peer-reviewe

A Curriculum Resource for Teachers of Low-Level Adult English Learners: Incorporating Digital Literacy Skills

The use of technology in the workforce and in academia is ever increasing. Given the events of the past two years, more and more individuals are turning to technology as a means to help them function in today’s world. There are many individuals who arrive from other countries to the United States for various reasons. One possible reason is learning English. However, what happens when you arrive to a country that uses technology daily in a prolonged manner and you have never had this experience? This is the case for many learners who enroll in adult education programs across the United States. They come ready to learn, but not necessarily with the intent of learning how to use computers. These learners are expected to have some sort of technology instruction while enrolled, but if they’ve never had computer experience, it leaves the question to be answered: how can teachers of beginning-level EL adults help their learners become digitally literate? This capstone examines that question based on the theories of at question based on the principles of Mutually Adaptive Learning Paradigm or MALP (MALP, 2014) and the idea that students should be provided with in-class hands-on real life experiences that they can take with them into the real world to practice what they have learned and put it in motion. This project did just that by providing learners with a curriculum that was at a beginning level where real-life hands-on experiences were taught and learned

Implementing and evaluating empirically based family and school programmes for children with conduct problems in Norway

This postscript presents the implementation and evaluation of family and community based intervention programs for children and young people in Norway. PALS was organised as a universal intervention for the whole school combined with PMTO for parents of the high risk children. The Norwegian experiences and results illustrate how evidence-based programs developed in the US have been transported across geographical and language borders, implemented nationwide, evaluated for their effectiveness in regular practice and examined for sustainability. This paper describes this national strategy, and the main components and immediate outcomes of the PMTO- and PALS-programmes in Norwaypeer-reviewe

Preventing Problem Behavior in School through School-Wide Staff Empowerment: Intervention Outcomes

The aim of this study was to examine the effects of the universal “Preventing Problem Behavior in School” (PPBS) intervention on both establishing high-quality learning environments and increasing the use of positive teaching strategies to prevent student problem behavior. PPBS was developed and piloted in Norway as an abbreviated version of the School-Wide Positive Behavior Support Model (SWPBS) and includes a four-day in-service training program for a school’s entire staff. Seventeen primary schools (Grades 1-7) implementing PPBS and 20 control schools engaging in “practice as usual” were compared using a three-wave measurement design. Multilevel analyses based on staff ratings indicated significant positive main effects of PPBS in the moderate range on the level of school behavior problems, positive behavior management, and perceived staff efficacy. Moreover, school size, implementation quality, proportion of unqualified staff members, and program training dosage moderated the intervention outcomes. Student ratings did not, however, support the staff ratings. The results are discussed in relation to the outcomes of the full-scale SWPBS model, meta-analyses of school-wide interventions, and measurement issues. Study limitations, strengths, practical implications, and future directions are highlighted

Social media: creating communities of research and practice

Social media has become part of everyday life. By January 2015, over 3 billion internet users had set up more than 3.7 billion active social media accounts (Kemp, cited in Davis and Voyce, 2015). Social media in a professional context offers occupational therapists a powerful communication tool, one they have embraced enthusiastically. An increasing number use it not only to support their continued professional development but also to promote their research among their peers and across international health care networks. There is enormous potential for enabling contact and interaction with colleagues, policy makers, researchers and professional organisations on an equal footing. Recently, even traditional health care organisations, such as the National Health Service (NHS) in the United Kingdom, have facilitated the use of social media by health care professionals, no doubt assisted by its cost efficiencies with reduced cost for time and travel (Lawson and Cowling, 2014). Academic and research organisations likewise recognise that social and online media enrich academic life, whether through using Google Scholar to build research citations, Slideshare to distribute conference presentations, or online groups to collaborate with colleagues

Pyrolytic production of carbon selenide from carbon diselenide

Thesis (B.S.) in Chemistry--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1983.Bibliography: leaf 53.Microfiche of typescript. [Urbana, Ill.] : Photographic Services, University of Illinois, U of I Library, [1983]. 2 microfiches (63 frames) : negative ; 11 x 15 cm

Using the Kawa Model to explore the ‘Third Culture Kid’ experience

Children who accompany their expatriate parents overseas are referred to as ‘Third Culture Kids’ (TCKs) (Pollock and van Reken 2009). TCKs experience major transitions during their developmental years, a time when identity and sense of belonging are formed (Walters and Auton-Cuff 2009). This presentation is based on a semi-structured interview conducted with an adult TCK using the Kawa Model (Iwama 2006) as a framework. Metaphors are frequently used to describe the TCK experience as these ‘help the subject express feelings and situations with few words but much symbolism and descriptive experience’ (Zilber 2004, p.17). However, to the author’s knowledge, this is the first time the Kawa Model has been used in TCK research. University ethical approval was obtained for the study. The findings of this study will be discussed with consideration of implications for practice. Themes include the process of adjustment, the importance of the social environment and the influences on occupation. As the world becomes increasingly globalised, the probability of occupational therapists encountering TCKs grows. Evidence suggests that TCKs are more likely to attend higher education institutions than the general population (Cottrell, 2002), and educators will therefore also benefit from awareness of the experiences of this group. References: Cottrell, AB (2002) ‘Educational and occupational choices of American adult Third Culture Kids’ in MG Ender (ed) Military brats and other global nomads: growing up in organization families. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers. pp.229–253. Iwama MK (2006) The Kawa Model: culturally relevant occupational therapy. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier Limited. Pollock, D, van Reken R (2009) Third Culture Kids: growing up among worlds. London: Nicholas Brealey Publishing. Walters KA and Auton-Cuff FP (2009) ‘A story to tell: the identity development of women growing up as Third Culture Kids. Mental Health, Religion and Culture, 12(7), 755–772. Zilber E (2004) ‘Mobility in metaphor: colourful descriptions of Third Culture Kids’. International Schools Journal, 23(2),17–21

The cash crop revolution, colonialism and economic reorganization in Africa

In the 19th and 20th centuries, African economies experienced a significant structural transformation from the slave trades to commercial agriculture. We analyze the long-run impact of this economic transition focusing on the dynamic effects of: shifting geographic fundamentals to favor agroclimatic suitability for cash crops; infrastructural investments to reduce trade costs; and external forward production linkages. Using agro-climatic suitability scores and historical data on the source location of more than 95 percent of all exports across 38 African states, we assess the consequences of these changes on economic reorganization across the continent. We find that colonial cash crop production had positive long-run effects on urbanization, road infrastructure, nighttime luminosity, and household wealth. These effects rival or surpass other geographic and historical forces. Exploring causal mechanisms, we show that path dependence due to colonial infrastructure investments is the more important channel than continued advantages in agricultural productivity. However, these agglomerating effects were highly localized; we find limited evidence that commercial agriculture spurred broader regional growth, in contrast to other cash crop regions around the world. If anything, we observe in Africa the economic gains accruing to cash crop zones came at the expense of nearby areas, which are worse off today than expected based on underlying characteristics. Overall, our analysis has important implications for the debate on the long-run effects of colonialism on development in the region. Rather than offsetting negative institutional effects, subnational extractive processes may have reinforced them by sowing economic and social inequalities